Gov. George Romney of Michigan has received a critical response to his suggestion—given in his farewell speech (Jan. 6) on leaving the gubernatorial post to become secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – that church consider “leaving secular education to the state.”

Speaking about a Michigan proposal that the state pay a subsidy to children attending nonpublic schools, Romney said: “To make private school competition with public education effective, we would have to go much further down the subsidy road.” He said he did not think taxpayers would support such a costly system.

While not proposing any final solutions, Romney suggested that all education authorities reassess their objective for the future before making new plans. He said: “I suggest we seriously consider whether it would not be more desirable to leave secular education to the state with the churches—all the churches—concentrating their efforts on expanding weekly religious and moral formal and systematic basis for all the children of their faith.

In the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Father Danile J. O’Connor, superintendent of schools, said: “I just don’t believe that Mr. Romney has looked at education as being susceptible to monopoly. When he does, I think he might very well have a change of mind.